


seas between us

by DwarfessIsla



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 07:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9167827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DwarfessIsla/pseuds/DwarfessIsla
Summary: But seas between us broad have roared / Since times gone by - Auld Lang Syne‘You know what we should do?’ Will said, also pretty far gone. ‘We should go on a quest together! Or, like, not a quest – we’ve done enough of that recently – like, a hunt! Like, we should find a random monster somewhere and – just, kick its ass.’‘Yeah!’ Annabeth agreed.‘Like – it’ll help us bond or something. What do they say in the Sorcerer’s Stone? There are some things you can’t do without becoming friends, and –’‘– and taking down a troll is one of them!’ Annabeth finished. ‘We gotta find our troll, Will, we gotta find our troll, you’re a genius…’Annabeth, Percy, Will and Nico are on a quest when suddenly, Annabeth is seperated from the others - and everything feels different.Set post BoO, pre ToA





	

‘Get _down_ ,’ Annabeth hissed, grabbing Percy by the arm and dragging them both down behind a bush. Will and Nico, who had been running behind them, skidded to a halt. Will smacked into the back of Percy’s head.

‘Ow!’ Percy muttered.

‘Sorry, sorry…’ Will whispered.

A few meters in front of them, the three middle-aged men they had been tracking had stopped in their tracks and were looking around them. One of them said something in a low voice, but the demigods were too far away to hear them.

‘Can’t we just go out into the middle of the clearing and confront them?’ Percy said. ‘That was the plan – they haven’t spotted us yet, so we’d still have the element of surprise.’

‘Right, but they obviously know something’s up. They’re probably expecting an attack now. Look at them,’ Nico muttered.

The trio were now continuing across the clearing, but they were walking slowly, in a huddle, each facing in a different direction.

‘Fuck,’ Annabeth said, slumping onto the ground. ‘There goes Plan D.’

‘You mean we didn’t get the D?’ Will said under his breath, and the three boys snickered. Annabeth sighed. Why had she agreed to this stupid hunt?

 

As many bad ideas were, it was the result of Will and Annabeth’s late night scheming. Ever since Nico had confessed to Percy and then started dating Will, he had seemed wary of Percy, and Percy had been avoiding the new couple. It was starting to piss Annabeth off, because she and Percy had been good friends with Will before the war with Gaia, and they’d been through a lot with Nico. Why should an old crush ruin that?

‘Teenagers can just be so, so – so _stupid_ ,’ she whined to Will one night as they were sitting in their cabin. One of the other Athena kids had managed to sneak in some bottles of vodka, despite Chiron’s tight rules, and the older members of the cabin were passing it round the bunks. She was tired, drunk, and ready to complain to anyone who was ready to listen – and Will was always ready to listen.

‘I just don’t _understand,_ ’ she said, gesticulating with the bottle. ‘Nico liked Percy, like, ages ago, and that silly, beautiful Seaweed Brain has _me_ now and – and it’s all going just lovely, and then, and then you two started dating and it got even _lovelier_ , like, why should it be awkward? It is all,’ (here she did an impressive burp, and someone whooped) ‘ _so_ stupid.’

‘You know what we should do?’ Will said, also pretty far gone. ‘We should go on a quest together! Or, like, not a quest – we’ve done enough of that recently – like, a _hunt_! Like, we should find a random monster somewhere and – just, _kick_ its _ass_.’

‘Yeah!’ Annabeth agreed.

‘Like – it’ll help us bond or something. What do they say in the Sorcerer’s Stone? _There are some things you can’t do without becoming friends, and_ –’

‘– _and taking down a troll is one of them_!’ Annabeth finished. ‘We gotta find our troll, Will, we gotta find our _troll,_ you’re a genius…’

She slung her arm around his shoulder and tried to plant a kiss on his cheek, but missed, hitting his shoulder instead. They collapsed into giggles.

‘Careful,’ Will said, wheezing, ‘we both got, like – _boyfriends_.’

‘Yeaah,’ Annabeth said, ‘ _Yeah,_ my boyfriend is way hotter than your boyfriend.’

‘That,’ Will protested, sitting up and looking at her sternly, ‘is a goddamn lie.’

They looked at each other seriously for a second, before bursting into hysterics all over again.

 

The next morning, after a swim in the lake and a big breakfast, Annabeth was feeling almost back to normal – or at least, normal enough that Chiron either hadn’t noticed their hangovers, or was pretending not to.

‘So,’ she said to Will as they were practicing their sword fighting. ‘Still on for that quest?’

Will winced. ‘I mean – I guess? What exactly did I say?’

Annabeth jumped out of the way of his low blow and shrugged. ‘I can’t exactly remember either, but it was something about the four of us taking down a monster together, to help Percy and Nico see that we can all work together.’

‘Oh, right,’ Will said, as their swords clashed in a parry. ‘That sounds like a good idea, actually – well done, drunk me – but Chiron isn’t letting us go on quests at the moment, is he?’

‘Nah, but camp’s nearly over – we’ll look for something then.’

Will nodded. ‘Yeah. Yeah, okay. We’re all based in New York this term, aren’t we?’

Annabeth knocked his sword out of his hand and smirked. ‘Yep. Let’s not tell the others until we’ve found something, though, okay?’

They started walking out of the training circle. Some people had been watching and were clapping.

‘Oh, yeah, of course,’ Will said. ‘Let’s hope it works, huh?’

They bumped fists and went their separate ways, off to their next activities.

 

Two days after camp had ended, Will called Annabeth with information about three men who had attacked some tree nymphs in the woods around Camp Half-Blood.

‘The best thing is,’ he said, ‘that Chiron has actually asked me to look into it. We reckon it’s just some rogue demigods – maybe some of Luke’s old allies or something – so it should be pretty simple, perfect for a little reconciliation quest.’

‘That sounds great,’ Annabeth agreed. ‘So, you tell Nico it’s just going to be you and him, and I’ll tell Percy it’s just the two of us.’

‘Deal,’ Will said.

 

The next day, backpacks slung over shoulders and weapons in hand, Percy and Annabeth struggled over Half-Blood Hill.

‘… but anyway. Where did you say the nymphs had been attacked?’ Percy said, finishing a small monologue about his mum and Paul’s plans for the rest of summer.

‘Hmm?’ Annabeth replied. She’d been looking out for Will and Nico, not concentrating on what Percy had been saying at all. With a pang of guilt, she answered, ‘Oh, it was about five minute’s walk from here.’

Percy nodded and they carried on, looking around them – Percy for the three men, Annabeth for their friends.

A few minutes later, they heard some voices up ahead. Percy uncapped Riptide and looked at Annabeth, who, more cautiously, unsheathed her dagger and nodded. Together, they crept towards the sound, but as they got closer, it was clear that it wasn’t three men talking.

Percy frowned. ‘Wait a second –’

Will and Nico appeared from behind a tree, talking quietly, not taking any notice of the two people in front of them. Annabeth cleared her throat.

Will looked up and started. ‘Oh, hey, Annabeth and Percy, what a surprise!’ His tone was far from convincing, Annabeth realised with a wince, and Nico narrowed his eyes.

‘Uh – Will and Nico, wow! Didn’t expect to see you here,’ she answered, also failing to sound genuinely surprised and failing miserably.

‘Okay, what the hell is going on,’ Percy sighed.

Annabeth scratched her neck. ‘Well, we’re going to fight these guys together. The four of us,’ she added, firmly.

‘And you planned this?’ Nico said scathingly.

‘It was Will’s idea!’ Annabeth protested.

Will put his hands up. ‘Hey, both of us planned it! But anyway, since we’re here, we may as well get on with the task at hand.’

The other two looked reluctant, but Percy eventually sighed and shrugged. ‘Fine, let’s do this.’

Annabeth took his hand and squeezed it in silent gratitude. ‘So, what have you guys seen?’

‘Nothing yet, but we’re heading for the clearing where they were last spotted,’ Will said.

Annabeth nodded, and they were about to carry on together when Nico suddenly stiffened.

‘Guys,’ he said, looking over Percy’s shoulder. ‘Is that them?’

The four of them leapt to crouch behind different trees. Looking out, they could see three men about fifteen meters away from them, walking in the direction of the clearing.

‘Let’s not attack until they get into the clearing, then we can ambush from the edge. If we stay far enough behind them, they won’t spot us and we’ll be able to surprise them,’ Percy said.

‘Okay,’ Will said, looking at Nico, as if he needed his permission. ‘Shall we go, then?’

Nico rolled his eyes and crept out from behind his tree. The others followed, careful to tread quietly and avoid twigs. They kept their distance from the men, spreading apart slightly, but making sure they could still see each other.

It had all been going well, until the three men had stopped dead in their tracks.

 

And now her three companions were all giggling about a dick joke together. Well, Annabeth thought, at least they were bonding. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting from teenage boys.

‘Okay, so here’s the plan,’ she whispered. ‘This is proving a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. They look well organised and they’ve already worked out someone’s here, which I definitely didn’t think they would. Nico, are you okay to shadow travel?’

Nico screwed up his nose. ‘I mean, I guess – but not far at all.’

‘Just to the other side of the clearing?’

‘Sure. I won’t be much use after, though.’

‘That’s okay – we’ll have a bit of time before they reach us and then the rest of us can do most of the fighting. So, me and Nico will shadow-travel to the other side of the field and wait for them there. Percy and Will will keep trailing them from here. We’ll do a two-sided ambush. You guys got it?’

‘Aye aye, sir,’ Percy said, saluting.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. ‘Nerd.’

‘Let’s go,’ Nico huffed. He grabbed Annabeth’s hand – and they were off.

 

Shadow travelling was an incredibly strange sensation. Annabeth had only done it a few times before, but she never got used to it. It felt like the world’s steepest, fastest roller coaster, all in pitch black darkness, with stars dancing just outside of your vision.

Annabeth hated roller coasters.

When she finally landed, she allowed herself a few seconds to lie, slightly nauseous, on the ground, before she sprung up and looked around for some cover.

Except she didn’t seem to be in the clearing anymore.

She tensed up as she realised that she was standing in a near-empty carpark, no grass in sight. She reached in her belt for her dagger, but it wasn’t there.

‘Shit,’ she muttered. Hopefully, Nico had it.

Annabeth dodged behind a car and quickly scanned the surroundings. She could see the Empire State Building in the distance, so she was evidently still in New York, but she had no idea where – or where the hell Nico and the others were.

She raised her head above the car and found that she had a pretty good view of the space around her. It looked like she was on the roof of a multi storey car park. In the far corner was a small building – the door and stairs to downstairs – and on her other side, the car ramp wound down, presumably, to street level. There were only a few vehicles parked, and no sign of life anywhere.

She decided it was safe to make some noise.

‘Nico!’ she called. No answer.

She moved around the carpark, checking in and around all the other cars, before finally giving up. Nico wasn’t there. But, luckily, neither were any monsters. She relaxed, leaning against the car behind her, and reached into her pocket for her phone. She felt a surge of relief when her fingers closed around the cool, metal rectangle.

Demigods weren’t supposed to have phones, but Annabeth had had one for a few years now. It had been slightly useless, though, as not many of her half-blood friends had one – but before the Argo II had set off, Leo had started working on monster-proof phones. Annabeth felt a pang in her chest, thinking of how hopeful he had been then, only to make the greatest sacrifice for them later.

Some of his Hephaestus siblings had managed to complete the phones with the help of his notes. The phones were totally untraceable except to each other, which meant that not only could no monsters sniff them out, but if one demigod were to call another in the middle of a battle, the recipient would see a GPS of where their friend was. The idea was that demigods could rush to each other’s aid when it was needed, and nothing needed to be said.

Annabeth and the rest of the Seven had been some of the first to receive new phones, and they were obsessed with them. They looked like human iPhones, and could download apps and games like ordinary ones. They’d been texting each other constantly, even while at camp – just because they could.

Annabeth opened up her contacts list, and her brow furrowed. None of the contacts were the same as in her old phone.

‘Abbie, Aidan, Alex, Alicia… who _are_ these people?’ she muttered to herself, scrolling down the list. Was this a side effect of the shadow travel? Did she have the wrong phone?

She turned the phone on and off again to check if her lock screen was the same. At first glance, it was, but when she looked more carefully, her stomach dropped. Normally, it was a shot Piper had taken a week ago, of her and Percy standing in front of the sunset over Half-Blood Hill. Now, Annabeth was standing there not with Percy, but her dad.

‘What the hell?’ she exclaimed.

She opened up her gallery, and saw that her photos were different, too. She was still in them, but with people she’d never seen before, in places she didn’t recognise. Beginning to panic, she turned the screen off and closed her eyes, concentrating on her breathing. In, out, in, out…

She couldn’t think of any rational explanation, so she decided to do the only thing she ever wanted to do in weird or scary situations. Call Percy.

Luckily, they’d memorised each other’s numbers before leaving camp, and her fingers remembered the digits easily.

He answered on the third ring.

‘Hello?’

‘Percy, thank the gods. Look, I’m on this abandoned rooftop – I’m in New York but I’m not sure where exactly, I’ll check Google Maps in a second – and my phone layout has _completely_ changed. Has anything happened with yours? Mine –’

‘Woah, woah, woah,’ Percy said, voice tinny and far away.

‘Wait, has Nico returned? Can you see him? What’s happened with the three men? Is Will still there?’

‘ _Woah_ ,’ Percy said again. ‘Hold up. Who is this?’

‘Annabeth?’ she said, caught off guard.

There was a pause. ‘I’m sorry, who?’

‘Annabeth! Come on, Percy –’

‘Ah, I’m really bad with names. I can’t think of a Nick either – and do you mean Will Beyers? He’s in my Tech class – did you get my number off him?’

Annabeth’s mouth was hanging open. She realised she hadn’t answered him, and shook her head to clear it. What was going on?

‘It’s _me_ , Percy,’ she tried again. ‘Is everything okay? Has Hera got you again?’

‘Her – what? Look, I’m sorry, but I have no clue what you’re talking about.’

Annabeth tried to focus on her breathing, but it was harder now. She could feel her panic spiralling. Percy’s voice trickled out of the phone, which she was holding halfway to her ear.

‘Hello? I’m really sorry about this, but I think you’ve got the wrong number. I’m sure we’ve never met before.’

**Author's Note:**

> My PJO Secret Santa present for 2016, gifted to @anticonformunicorn (Tumblr url) :)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed - it's not beta-read so excuse any mistakes! I'll probably post it in seven parts, but we'll see what happens.
> 
> Tumblr: @whatsinurhair


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